The Largest Whales Mass Die-Off Ever
Aerial and satellite photography identified 305 bodies and 32 skeletons in an area between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales, toward the southern tip of the continent.
The scientists actually made the discovery on June 23, with support for the observation flights provided by the National Geographic. The team is analyzing its findings for publication in a scientific journal.
Thirty sei whales were seen stranded in the same general area in April by Vreni Häussermann. That prompted Gutstein and Häussermann to team up, pool resources, and to look further with flights and remote imagery (the pair made the discovery jointly on June 23, with the Institut de Ecologia y Biodiversidad)
Toxic blooms may have been the culprit
Toxic blooms may have been the culprit in mass death of marine mammals off Chile three to five million years ago, according to another National Geographic explorer. That evidence was found by Nicholas Pyenson of the Smithsonian in a fossil bed in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
About fifteen years ago, some 600 gray whales were stranded on the North American Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico, but that occurred over a vast area and over a longer span. In Patagonia, the whales were found close together. Nearly 200 whales were stranded in New Zealand in February.
